South African integrated poultry producer Astral’s operating profit decreased to R503-million for the six months ended March 31, compared with the R1.04-billion operating profit reported for the first half of the prior financial year, as a result of a R570-million decline in its poultry division’s profitability to R258-million. The company on Monday published its interim results, with external revenue up 2.6% year-on-year to R6.8-billion, while revenue from the poultry segment – the biggest contributor to the group’s external revenue – was up by only 1% year-on-year.
